A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
David Silva came to the rescue of Manchester City with two goals in a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
Jose Mourinho shared the honours with former mentor Louis van Gaal as his Chelsea side drew at Manchester United in the Premier league on Sunday, but there was no doubt which of the pair was happier with the 1-1 result.
Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson scored as Liverpool registered their first Premier League win since August with a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Anfield on Saturday.
Argentina remain winless in South American qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after struggling to a 0-0 in Paraguay on Tuesday, while Uruguay and Ecuador both made it two wins from two games to top the group.
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and his old friend Louis van Gaal of Manchester United had different reasons to be satisfied with a point after their teams drew 1-1 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Lightning struck twice for Marc-Andre ter Stegen on Saturday when the Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper scored a bizarre own goal in a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Braunschweig and his opposite number also put through his own net.
The Netherlands failed to reach the European Championship for the first time since 1984 as they lost 3-2 at home to the 10-man Czech Republic in their final qualifier on Tuesday to miss out on Euro 2016.
Mexico were booed off the field by a boisterous crowd after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Costa Rica in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 World Cup on Tuesday, their third successive goalless draw at the Azteca Stadium.
Spain strolled to a 4-1 win at home to Israel, while Italy survived some first-half scares on the way to a 2-0 win and Ukraine registered a 1-0 home win over Ukraine in an action-packed game.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Goals from Jan Vertonghen and Jermain Defoe left Tottenham Hotspur on the cusp of the Europa League knockout stages as four other clubs maintained perfect starts on Thursday.
A goal by Sergio Aguero gave Manchester City a 1-0 victory against neighbours Manchester United, who played with 10 men for more than 50 minutes on Sunday.
Neymar scored twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals.
Spain started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a crushing 8-0 win over Liechtenstein, laying down a marker in Group G with a ruthless second-half display on Monday.
Samuel Eto'o's hat-trick lifted Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday which all but ended the champions' slim hopes of defending their Premier League title.
Thiago Silva's extra-time header sent Paris St Germain into the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as coach Pep Guardiola maintained his 100 per cent record at the club with a commanding 4-0 victory against Borussia Moenchengladbach in their rearranged Champions League Group C opener on Wednesday.
Chelsea heaped more Christmas misery on Liverpool with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge and Olivier Giroud ended a seven-game scoring drought to help Arsenal win 1-0 at Newcastle United and return to the top of the Premier League on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.
Photos from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Jose Mourinho suffered a nightmare homecoming as Porto, the club he led to the Champions League title in 2004, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on his woefully out-of-sorts Chelsea side in Group G on Tuesday.
Switzerland struck twice in quick succession to stun Euro 2016 champions Portugal 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday and hand them a first competitive defeat in two years under coach Fernando Santos.
Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played on Sunday.
Holders Spain suffered their first defeat in qualifying for a major tournament in eight years when Miroslav Stoch nodded a late goal to earn Slovakia a shock 2-1 victory in Euro 2016 Group C on Thursday.
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